Crow met Penelope halfway as she moved in to kiss him once more. He smiled against her lips, running a hand through her long hair and pressing into her deeply. It felt good to be so close to her after being apart, especially when there had been a moment when he wasn’t sure if he would ever see her again. While he felt bad that Abraxas had died at the castle, he was far more relieved that it had been the young knight to perish rather than Penelope.

After a bit, they parted from the kiss, but still remained close since neither of them seemed to want to let go. “Me neither,” he exhaled, frowning at the thought of something happening to her back at the palace. He closed his eyes as she leaned into him, bringing a hand up to softly stroke the hair on the back of her head. It was fortunate that neither one of them would have to find out the answer to the question of what they would do if the other had died. He didn’t know if he would even be able to carry on with the mission if he had lost her.

Crow nodded solemnly when Penelope said that it would be harder for them to sneak around William. He longed for the freedom they’d had when they had been alone, but there was nothing they could do about it now. The older knight had been freed from the Younisians, and he was here to stay. “We’ll still find time together,” he said hopefully, glancing at the sleeping William on the other side of the clearing.

[color=fff79a][b]“At least we don’t have a castle to worry about anymore though...”[/b][/color] Penelope’s words, though he was sure she meant them to be reassuring, sent a wave of unease through him.

“Yeah… right,” he shifted his weight, recalling Aeklora’s warning. [i]We may not be as safe as we think we are,[/i] he thought, looking up to do a quick survey of the forest around them. The goddess had said there were people out there who didn’t want them to succeed, and she had considered them dangerous enough to tell him about them in person. [i]Alert your companions.[/i] His expression turned somber as he remembered her words. As uncomfortable as he felt about telling someone else about what he had experienced at the castle, he knew he had to say something.

“Actually… there’s something else,” he said slowly, forcing himself to meet Penelope’s gaze once more. “It’s going to sound completely insane, but promise me that you won’t think I’m mad, okay?”